The newsgroup rec.ponds has been an invaluable source of information
for building and maintaining my ponds. Any big or little thing that comes up
can be addressed to the group, and invariably several people will respond with
their experience, successes or failures. Early this Spring, there started a
pronounced "clucking" noise around the edge of the Shady Pond. Having
no idea what the clucking was all about, i posted a question to the newsgroup
about the noise and what it might portend. Many helpful people responded, with
the general gist of the idea being that i had some type of frog visiting the
Shady Pond essentially (or primarily) for mating purposes. The identification
of the frog remained a mystery, although many suggestions were presented. Curiosity
got the best of me and i just had to find out for sure. Following is the result
of my investigation as it was posted to the newsgroup................
(Oh, sorry, i should mention that i post to the newsgroup as "banjo")
thanks for the responses to help identify my 'clucking' frog. of course,
not knowing much about frogs myself, i just wasn't entirely satisfied with guessing
about the type of frog i had. fortunately, i was able to entice the mystery
frog with my clumsy, but apparently effective, imitations of the 'clucking'
call. following is my exclusive interview with the heretofore unknown visitor
to my pond's first springtime........
banjo: cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck >> mr. x: cut out that infernal noise, will you
please?
banjo: ah! hello there, sir. i see you are a frog >> mr. x: yes, you are correct in that respect
banjo: i am interested as to what brings you to my new pond. >> mr. x: me so horny
banjo: i beg your pardon? >> mr. x: i wish to embrace a frog of the opposite
persuasion
banjo: any luck so far? >> mr. x: so far tonite i have found you - i
don't think i would call that any type of luck
banjo: so this 'clucking' noise you make is designed to attract
the ladies? >> mr. x: yes, that is theoretically correct
banjo: so how many ladies have you attracted since you arrived
last week? >> mr. x: well, three chickens, one turkey, and
assorted mallard ducks
banjo: not much luck so far with the lady frogs, then? >> mr. x: i don't think i would call that any
type of luck
banjo: how long do you plan to keep on with this clucking? >> mr. x: as long as it takes
banjo: let's move on if we can. what type of frog are you? >> mr. x: amphibious
banjo: of course, but i actually meant to ask by what name
are you called? >> mr. x: norman
banjo: so, then, you are a frog of the species 'norman'? >> mr. x: no, then, i am a frog of the name norman
banjo: seriously, sir, i am asking for your genus and species
name >> mr. x: i haven't the foggiest idea
banjo: you mean you haven't any idea what type of frog you
are? >> mr. x: beats me
banjo: well, judging by your black eye stripe i would say
you are rana sylvatica, commonly known as the wood frog >> mr. x: you know, you really aren't so bad
looking after all, and you look plump enough to be
carrying a lot of eggs...........
banjo: i'm outta here! >> mr. x: works every time :)
